Nobody Really Knows …’
Every now and again my 19-year-old daughter, Emily, and I like to watch a television comedy. Ancient Aliens on the History Channel is one of our favorites. Oh, perhaps some folks watch the show and wonder whether ancient aliens really did build the pyramids or cause the tides or introduce us all to Twinkies. Every […]
Movie Monday: The Butler
It’s not often that butlers get much notice. It’s part of the job, really, to be unobtrusive. Invisible. A room or office, Cecil Gaines tells us in The Butler, should feel “empty when I’m in it.” Unless, of course, that office is the box office. And the butler in question is headlining a major motion […]
Pump Up Those Thumbs!
Notice to all our blog readers: It’s possible that you are doing grave danger to your health by reading this post—particularly if you’re currently using some sort of mobile device. Those nifty smartphones that you use to help you get around town and text your BFFs and play Sudoku on can imperil not just your […]
The Know-Everything, Know-Nothing Internet
Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in California and one of the country’s most prominent evangelical leaders, announced on Aug. 6 that more than 200 Facebook pages have popped up claiming to be raising money in memory of Warren’s son, Matthew. All of them are scams. The only presence Warren has on Facebook is […]
Movie Monday: 2 Guns
You can tell that the summertime movie season is chugging to a close, can’t you? The halcyon days of Iron Man 3 and Fast & Furious 6 are well behind us. Gone are the $100 million-plus opening weekends. It would seem that Hollywood’s most lucrative season—like summer itself—is devolving into just a hazy, humid muddle […]
Miley and the Lost Decade
Miley Cyrus still sings. She still can act. But the former Miss Hannah Montana has really become more of a professional celebrity. She has the ability to make tabloid mags and gossip sites weak in the knees, and a good chunk of America is forever eager to see what sort of outrageous misstep she makes […]
Movie Monday: The Wolverine
You just can’t keep a tortured superhero down. The Wolverine—much like the film’s titular character—was durable, if not wholly indestructible, in its box office debut. The angsty X-Man sliced and diced his way to an estimated $55 million weekend, a touch below most prognostications and 35% off of X-Men Origins: Wolverine tallies, but still a […]
Blowing Up the Summer Blockbuster
We’re through the teeth of the summer movie season now, and a number of entertainment pundits are asking one very salient question: Why so many big-budget bombs? After Earth, starring Will and Jaden Smith, allegedly cost about $130 million to make, but only collected $27.5 mil during its opening weekend, and just $59.8 million during […]
Movie Monday: The Conjuring
Late one night, as the official box office tally-keeper was keeping tally of the latest movies, he heard strange noises … a sporadic clapping … coming from a huge wardrobe in the corner of his office. “Huh,” he said. “Don’t remember that being there before.” And so he lit a match (the official tally keeper […]
Television’s House of Cards
Emmy nominations were announced this morning. And as always, there were some interesting shows in the mix. The Bible, History Channel’s surprise hit of a miniseries, earned a nomination for Best Miniseries or Movie, Joining the likes of American Horror Story: Asylum (FX), Behind the Candelabra (HBO), Phil Spector (HBO), Political Animals (USA) and Top […]